During WW2 HMS Belfast (C35) was a Royal Navy cruiser, saw action on the Arctic convoys, took part in Operation Neptune (the seaborne element of Operation Overlord) and toward the end of the war was sent to the Far East shortly before the Japanese surrender. After decommissioning in 1963 HMS Belfast became a museum ship in 1971 since when she has been moored at London on the river Thames near Tower Bridge [Photographs No. 1 and 2]. Since 1978 she has been part of the 'museum family' of the Imperial War Museum.

Sunday, November 30, 2014

The passage to Perpignan and beyond

4. 1945 newspaper cutting of Lt.-Cmndr. 'Pat O'Leary' (Speaking in front of the Porte de Paris, Lille, France)[Perpignan was a key town for his WW2 escape line]

During the Second World War, for many escapees and evaders a passage to Perpignan was the last stepping stone to escape to freedom where they could join or rejoin the struggle against the Nazi Occupiers of N.W. Europe. It was not by any means an easy matter getting to Perpignan and beyond and most of the escapees and evaders needed the assistance of the Resistance networks to do so. Nor was it always a clear run for home if they were guided over the Pyrenees into Spain, where the Spanish authorities would often arrest them.